Is the ‘Fantastic Four’ Trailer Hiding a Major Plot Point in Plain Sight?

The Fantastic Four: First Steps has become one of the most anticipated movies not just of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but of 2025. The film’s teaser trailer debuted to 202 million views in 24 hours. It generated positive reactions from fans, even some who might have been burned out by some of the MCU’s recent offerings. This new take on Marvel’s First Family is generating plenty of buzz, particularly in how it looks to distinguish itself from the previous cinematic incarnations. Yet one particular way The Fantastic Four: First Steps will differentiate itself from other film versions of the Fantastic Four and honor the comics is the inclusion of the child of Reed Richards and Sue Storm: Franklin Richards.

Many fan theories have already popped up about how Sue Storm, aka The Invisible Woman, might be pregnant in Fantastic Four: First Steps and that maybe the marketing digitally removed a baby bump from some shots. After inserting a shot of The Hulk into the Avengers: Infinity War trailer or removing both Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield from the heroic shot of Tom Holland landing in Spider-Man: No Way Home, it might not be out of the realm of possibility.

Yet there is one specific shot in the trailer that Marvel put in to throw people off the scent, one that is meant to mirror the team’s origin but instead is the moment the Fantastic Four family grows. Marvel is hiding the birth of the most powerful MCU character. Here is how it changes what fans know about Fantastic Four: First Steps and how it will tie into the villain Galactus and the wider Multiverse Saga heading into Avengers: Doomsday and could reshape the fallout of Avengers: Secret Wars.

The ‘Fantastic Four’ Trailer Seemingly Reveals Sue Storm Is Pregnant

The Fantastic Four: First Steps teaser trailer confirms that the movie won’t be an origin story and feature an already established team. However, there are a few shots that hint at the team’s origin, notably Ben Grimm/The Thing watching a news broadcast of the team before they go into space, while another shot shows Reed Richards and Sue Storm in space with Reed holding Sue as she seemingly is turning invisible.

Many have expected that this shot, seen 42 seconds into the teaser trailer, is a flashback to the team’s origin. Yet if this shot is a showcase of their origin, where are The Thing and Johnny Storm / The Human Torch? This shot takes place after the team already has their powers, as Reed’s flight suit features the number 4 on his left arm, while the space suits the group wore before they got their powers do not.

This is backed up by the line in the trailer where Reed is talking to Sue, saying, “Before we went up the first time..” implying the movie will see the Fantastic Four journey into space again. Why would the team go to space specifically? More importantly, why would Reed Richards be nervous or hesitant to go into space again if the Fantastic Four are adventurers? It might be because this trip comes with an added complication.

In the shot of Reed holding Sue Storm in space while she turns invisible, she notably is not wearing a space suit like her husband. She is lying down in a white gown, similar to a hospital gown. She is even positioned like a woman in a hospital bed giving birth, with Reed by her side holding her hand. This suggests this scene in space is not the origin story for the Fantastic Four but is where Sue Storm will give birth to her and Reed’s son, Franklin Richards.

Who Is Franklin Richards in Marvel Comics?

Franklin Richards first appears in Fantastic Four Annual #6 in November 1968, but he was first teased in Fantastic Four Annual #5 the year prior when Sue Storm announced she was pregnant. The decision to give Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman a child stemmed from Stan Lee’s desire to make the characters feel like a real married couple, one that would have children and grow the concept of family that is at the heart of the Fantastic Four.

However, the birth of Franklin Richards was far from easy. Due to the Fantastic Four getting their powers from cosmic rays, this meant that Sue’s blood was coursing with cosmic energy, which made childbirth a difficult and dangerous process, particularly for the unborn baby. Reed, Johnny, and Ben all travel to the Negative Zone to retrieve an item called the Cosmic Rod from a villain known as Annihilus, one that will help deliver Sue to Franklin safely.

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Both of his parents were given powers through cosmic means, which meant that Franklin Richards was a mutant-born child and one of the most powerful beings in the Marvel Comics universe. His powers include reality-manipulating and psionic powers so vast he can create new realities, making him an Omega-level mutant.

The complications around Franklin Richards’s birth look to be adapted into Fantastic Four: First Steps, but instead of Reed needing to go into the Negative Zone so that Sue Storm can deliver her child safely, it appears they must do it in space. Franklin Storm’s inclusion in The Fantastic Four: First Steps is a big deal, not only in that he strengthens the family dynamic that is the thematic heart of the team but also in what he means for the wider Marvel Cinematic Universe. Franklin Richard’s ability to create new realities and have untold powers likely will put him in the crosshairs of the Fantastic Four’s greatest foes. He might be the reason the Earth is in danger from Galactus in the first place.

Is Franklin Richards the Reason Galactus Comes to Earth?

Galactus’s presence in Fantastic Four: First Steps might be the biggest giveaway that the story will involve Franklin Richards. Franklin Richards and Galactus are intertwined in many ways throughout Marvel’s canon. In FF #16 from March 2012, it is revealed that Franklin Richards is immortal, and both he and Galactus share a sweet moment where the devourer or worlds is happy to know he won’t be alone to witness the heat death of the universe. Franklin Richard will be by his side at the creation of a new universe.

Some comics have implied that Franklin Richards will become the new Galactus in the next reality of the Marvel Comics Universe. In the Earth X comic storyline that featured the Shalla-Bal Silver Surfer that will appear in Fantastic Four: First Steps, Franklin Richards does become the new Galactus. This connection between Franklin Richards being the heir apparent to Galactus might be a key plot point in the film. The new logline for The Fantastic Four: First Steps that was released with the new trailer featured this tidbit: “If Galactus’ plan to devour the entire planet and everyone on it weren’t bad enough, it suddenly gets very personal.”

The idea of the threat of Galactus becoming very personal to the Fantastic Four, and the Devour of Worlds connection to Franklin Richards in the comics, heavily implies Reed and Sue’s child will be in the movie and possibly what draws Galactus to Earth in the first place. While Galactus could feasibly see Franklin as a threat to his power and want to destroy him, that is a moderately easy conflict for The Fantastic Four to overcome in terms of morality.

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However, Galactus might want to use Franklin Richard’s vast cosmic powers to restore the universe he came from, possibly one from before the beginning of the MCU multiverse and the Multiversal War that He Who Remains and the rest of the Kang the Conqueror variants fought in. Galactus might threaten Earth and force the Fantastic Four to choose between Franklin Richards or the whole world. That certainly is a moral conundrum and one that will truly test the Fantastic Four.

It plays nicely into Sue Storm’s line from the trailer that “whatever life throws at us, we’ll face it together. As a family”, which not only means herself, Reed, Johnny, and Ben, but also Franklin Richards. This is a movie about family and one that will continue to grow. Even in the face of cosmic annihilation, the Fantastic Four’s greatest strength can be found in working with one another. In Fantastic Four #502 from 2003, The Thing tells a young, scared Franklin Richards, “If any of us wuz really trapped in Hell with ya, y’know we’d fight to the bitter end.” The team would never give up Franklin, but they also won’t sacrifice the world and will do everything in their power to stop Galactus, which could lead to the MCU’s future.

Franklin Richard’s Could Be Important to ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ and ‘Avengers: Secret Wars’

In the comics, Franklin Richards’s powers of reality manipulation are key parts of two different universe-rewriting storylines. The first was when facing off against the villain Onslaught. The villain, a twisted merger of Professor X and Magneto’s mind, kidnapped Franklin Richards to use his powers to reshape reality. The combined might of the Fantastic Four, X-Men, and The Avengers defeated Onslaught. However, many of the heroes seemingly die in the battle, including the Fantastic Four. Franklin uses his powers to keep them alive in a pocket universe in a storyline called Heroes Reborn, which was used as a way to reboot the Marvel heroes.

Franklin Richards is also key to the fallout of 2015’s Secret Wars; Franklin Richards’s powers were essential in recreating the Marvel multiverse after Doctor Doom destroyed it. With Doctor Doom now the MCU’s new big bad and the sixth movie being titled Avengers: Secret Wars, it seems that Franklin Richards might be key to the future of the MCU. The MCU might mix Heroes Reborn and the aftermath of the Secret Wars comic, with Franklin Richards giving an in-continuity reboot to the franchise, allowing the Fantastic Four to move from their isolated 1960s set universe to be part of the MCU sacred timeline. This could also explain the sudden emergence of mutants and open the door for the X-Men.

“First Steps” Takes On New Meaning

At San Diego Comic-Con 2024, it was confirmed that the title for the MCU Fantastic Four movie would be called The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Since the film was officially announced in December 2020, it had been called Fantastic Four, which made many curious as to why the movie would change the title right before filming. Was it to distinguish it from the other two theatrically released movies titled Fantastic Four? That sounded like enough. But like Spider-Man: Homecoming or Daredevil: Born Again, it is a title with multiple layers.

The obvious point many took was First Steps was a play on Neil Armstrong’s famous first words when he stepped off the Apollo 11 rocket and onto the moon: “This is one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind” on July 20, 1969. The Fantastic Four: First Steps is a movie set in an alternate 1960s, one that draws heavily from the space race era that inspired the comics (The Fantastic Four’s origins are tied to them stealing a rocket to beat the Russians into space). It seemed like both a play off the space race era setting and a possible hint at the Fantastic Four as a team taking their first steps into the multiverse and the MCU itself.

However, including Franklin Richards might give First Steps a whole new meaning. While it might be a play-off of the 1960s space race era, it also refers to a child taking their first steps. For all parents, the moment a child takes their first steps is significant, one that can feel just as groundbreaking as being a superhero. The inclusion of Franklin Richards has been hiding in plain sight since July 2024.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps not only introduces the very characters that created the modern Marvel Universe into the popular cinematic universe nearly 20 years into its run but also an important character that could reshape the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe as fans know it. New life, new possibilities, and a new MCU could all begin with the birth of Franklin Richards. The Fantastic Four: First Steps is releasing on July 25, 2025.